The Most Underrated African King

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Yes Mai Idris Alooma was awesome. Before trading with the Ottomans there was tension over the Fezzan region which the empire dominated for a time. The Ottomans refused to give back the territory and Mai Idris turned to the Moroccans to acquire firearms. Strange enough the Moroccan Awald dynasty took the region and took out the Ottoman garrison, I have a feeling Mai Idris Alooma had a hand in this. Despite this the Kanem Bornu empire was still able to establish good relations with the Ottomans thus trading in guns. A fact some people don’t know is Eastern European slave soldiers were sent to Kanem Bornu too to be musketeers.

It is always a burning desire to listen to your Insight, truth stands alone..maat..

Other rulers who are underrated and need more recognition (in my opinion) include the below (there are more I’d include of course . Emperor Yekuno Amlak the founder (or restorer to some) of the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia. Damel (King) Lat Dior Ngoné Latyr Diop a Wolof ruler who struggled hard against colonialism. Dud Murra the last independent Wadai king who defeated the French in battle a few times. Moribu Kindo Bai (African American king of Koya) Yusuf ibn al-Hasan of Mombasa Mwana Mwema of Zanzibar

I was just reading a paper about the 4D diplomatic chess he played with the Ottoman Empire and Morocco. I find myself shaking my head with Idrīs because he seems to be great at everything. Let's elevate Osei Bonsu of the Asante empire who was the architect of the annihilation of the British invasion of 1823-24, having the foresight to develop and implement military, political, diplomatic, economic, PR, and logistical strategies for such a war over two decades. His contemporaries Shaka and Ghezo embody the brutal, cruel, merciless, warlike despots that have been presented as the archetype of Black African rulers, yet their contemporary King Osei Bonsu (r. 1804-1823 Dec) of Asante represents a positive counterexample who ruled over a greater empire than both and had accomplishments just as legendary as Shaka or more so. He was praised by allies, enemies, European diplomats and Muslim diplomats for his humanity, devotion to peace and the Asante's treatment of POWs. He didn't raid for slaves and the Atlantic Slave Trade became marginal under his visionary economic reforms and export trade strategy. He died a month before the battle that knocked out the invasion, yet the army was unaware that he died and he had set up Asante up for that victory. Here's a Movie Pitch to Hollywood for the 1823-24 Asante-British War -- Called one of most Shocking Defeats in Military History: During the reign of Shaka Zulu and the same year the events of The Woman King took place (1823) the Asante Empire prepares for an inevitable British invasion set on conquering the empire. Yet Asante's modernization reforms (almost entirely indigenous development with 1816 being first European to visit the capital and Asante’s 1807 conquest to the ocean being the start of significant interaction with Europe) has brought it into a golden age of wealth, regional power, good governance that includes a bureaucracy whose size and effectiveness astounds the British (they point out how superior it is to Dahomey), has internal stability, an infrastructure--from the village, town, city and national level—that is universally praised by outsiders and compared favorably to contemporary Western examples with Asante’s eight “Great Roads” of 100-200 miles--often as wide as a football field while cutting through thick forest and jungle--gaining the most fame, along with the sanitation system in which many European Ambassadors have been especially excited about Asante toilets that not only flush, but are often on the second floor of homes and buildings--built in Asante style--that are part of the sanitation system praised for keeping cities very clean and the air fresh; they are a quarter century into a “Capitalist Revolution” where the wealthiest citizens were now self-made entrepreneurs instead of the aristocracy; a “National Assembly” of 200+ members--many indirectly elected by subjects down to the village level that represents all regions of the empire--approves war, major foreign policy agreements, some major domestic issues, acts as a constitutional check on the central government (Asante had a Codified Constitution of 77 Laws from 1701) and can vote to impeach the king at any time. That King is Osei Bonsu who serves as the government’s chief executive, the commander in chief of the army, and the judge of its highest court. Bonsu has a reputation of pursuing peaceful solutions through diplomacy and economic partnerships who won over former enemies for his humane treatment of POWs and conquered areas while overseeing a military that may be the best in 19th century Africa--including Shaka’s Zulu army—that conquered the British on the coast in 1807--making them tax paying subjects and giving Asante direct access to the ocean for the first time ("Bonsu" is what the king was called after his victory because it means "The Whale," which is the largest animal in the ocean), Bonsu refuses to raid for slaves, has restricted human sacrifice to those already convicted of a capital crime and under his reign the financial importance of the slave trade is marginal at best thus the 1807 Atlantic Slave Trade Ban by Britian is of little concern unlike Dahomey that depends on it more than any African polity. Despite exploring every avenue of diplomacy, Bonsu has planned for a British invasion for years. For years the British have used every tactic to weaken Asante in preparation for an invasion. The past couple years Britian has orchestrated a military buildup while Bonsu has made strategic moves to mislead Britian and set the table for an Asante victory. Asante destroyed that large British invasion so decisively that it is sometimes listed as one of the ten most shocking defeats in military history in which the British admitted they were outclassed and outsmarted in so many ways. The British were very confident they would conquer the capital 200 miles inland, which would not just put them in control of the lucrative gold trade all the way to the coast but they could use as a base to reach and expand to Timbuktu (which Europeans were obsessed with), yet the British had circles run around them. Impressively, the Asante were one of the only non-Western trained militaries fighting with muskets, who were consistently praised for fighting as good or better with muskets than the best European armies (muskets are one of the most difficult weapons in history to use effectively because they are so inaccurate, slow to reload and sensitive to the weather, yet deadly when you have 300 years of experience under your belt to figure things out; that experience was put into 2 prominent manuals the British gave their officers). The Asante invented a “talking drum” that created the fastest communication system of the time over 200 miles, even faster than a telegraph, which wasn’t even invented until the 1840s and had the disadvantage of being immobile. These drums were engineered so the sound could travel 15-20 miles. The Asante youth spent much time learning how to interpret the sounds, beats and tones of the talking drum, similar to a kid learning how to read. Thus, very complex messages could be sent far and wide. In war, the messages created an army that communicated so fast it earned the nickname “The Fighting Ants,” because, like ants they could march in different columns and converge as if they had one brain when an opportunity presented itself, which is this likely what happened in the key battle of the 1824 war in which the British Governor-General was killed. Again, Asante was praised by Britain after the war for their humane treatment of POWs, respect for international treaties, ethical behavior and acting more civilized than the British in the interaction between the two powers. (don’t believe the propaganda that came out later). Why wouldn't Hollywood have picked that invasion, that was occurring in the kingdom bordering Dahomey and Oyo (kingdom featured as villain in The Woman King) the same year the events of The Woman King took place? You know why. PS - Its often stated that the British were outnumbered 500 to 10000 at the Battle of Nsamankow in which the British Governor is killed. Whereas some sources don't mention the roughly 500 Denkyira on the British left flank even being present, others like the firsthand account of survivor Major Henry John Ricketts says they--led by the consensus best military leader on both sides Denkyirahene Kwadwo Tsibu--were the only soldiers putting up an excellent fight, performing a textbook fighting retreat, and the British Governor was actually fleeing to them when he was ambushed. I may be interpreting it wrong yet it wouldn't be the first case of whitewashing Black excellence. If anyone can offer clarification it would help my sanity. Thanks.

Love this channel. So glad I found it. Happy so called Black History Month.

Thank you for another great video, Hometeam. Kanem Borno deserves recognition due to its resiliency and longevity. Mai Idris Alooma was a fine example of a wise ruler. As per your request, it would be great to hear your take on the reign of arguably the most influential Pharaoh of ancient Kemet, Thutmose III, including his co-regency with Hatshepsut and the nature of his relationship with the frontier territories in the Levant. Thank you and stay blessed.

king thanks 4 all ur content

Thanks again bro as always your work is very appreciated .

The difference between the Kanem-Borno and the Songhay empires is that the former adopted firearms from the Ottoman Turks in the 1500s and continued to thrive until the 1800s when it declined and ended in 1900. Besides being located farther in the interior, having arms to defend yourself meant the French and British had a harder time conquering their lands. Regarding Saadi Morocco's invasion of the Songhay Empire, that has an interesting story as well. The Portuguese invaded and tried to conquer Morocco in 1578 but ended up losing horribly. Since they thought it was going to be easy, the King of Portugal came along but got deleted instead. Despite the victory, a defensive war is expensive and the Saadians needed money. Songhay (formerly known as Mali and Ghana) having gold mines was part of the reason why the Saadians invaded in 1590. The other was to gain control of the western 'Trans-Saharan Trade' route, since trade and plunder by Europeans along the African coastlines had reduced the flow of trade through the Sahara Desert. Ultimately, the gold from the region wasn't even enough or as high-quality to be competitive since the Spanish were plundering vast amounts from the Americas. Songhay from 1591 became a small fraction of its peak size and ended in 1833. The Saadians left by 1599 but the decline of Songhay—and with neither of its neighbors filing its vacuum—did damage to West Africa and which the Western Europeans only took further advantage from. It should also be recalled that the Fall of Muslim Iberia is what led to Spanish, Portuguese and Italians to sail abroad thereby beginning their Age of Colonization. The Ottomans largely boycotted trade with Catholic Iberia because of their genøc¡de and expulsion of the Moors.

Loved this video. Never heard of this King or empire before. Until this video I had only heard of the two Kings mentioned in beginning of the video. Awesome to gain knowledge about other kings

Fantastic history lesson ❤️✊🏽

Such a great video, Mai Idris Aluma was a definitely a great African king nice to see him get some more attention. Someone else I would suggest that does not get much attention is Nabiembali, the founder of the Mangbetu Kingdom. Nabiembali was a great conqueror who also helped solidify Mangbetu cultural identity. His kingdom was fragmented after his death as several of his sons claimed regions of the kingdom for themselves leading to a collection of Mangbetu kingdoms. There are many more but two that come to mind are Nyungu-Ya-Mawe founder of the Kimbu military state and Naa Gbewaa, founder of the Mampuru Kingdom as well as the progenitor of the founders of the Dagbon Kingdom, Nanumba Kingdom, and Mossi kingdoms.

appreciate the lesson brother god

Hey, great channel, and thanks for bringing this ruler to light. There are a host of states and important acephalous polities in Africa that escape notice from even dedicated amateur students of its history, and videos like these help rectify that. There are more underrated rulers than can be summarized, but off the top of my head, one underrated kingdom worth a gander would be the Bonoman state from medieval times. It was a fount of the Akan people - who are too often thought to begin and end with the Ashanti - and was an important player in the Saharan gold exchange, along with planting the seeds for future Akan states. Unfortunately, it is almost entirely in the dark outside of academic circles.

Thank y’all ❤❤❤❤

I was wondering if you could do a video on the Manianga tribe og DR Congo

Nicely Done. Kanem Borno adapted to the modern move of trained armies and firearms for the security of his people that is why it lasted for hundreds of years

I would love to hear more about the trade empire on the east coast, but mainly Kilwa

The central Sahel in general doesn't get as much attention as the western or eastern parts. Nice that you're shedding some light on it today!